Rope and Ribbon
by Eclectify
Summary: (IbuKamiTachi) The Fudomine team are always very considerate when it comes to getting birthday presents for each other...and certain members know exactly what to get their Buchou for this birthday.


Title: Rope and Ribbon  
Rating: PG I'd say.  
Pairing: TachibanaIbuKamio... smirks  
Warnings: Hmmm...Evil D1 and D2...bondage...  
Notes: Wrote this for Tachibana's birthday and while I posted it on time (sort of ) on LJ it's taken me ages to get around to posting it on here...cause I master procrastination on a daily basis. Ask my housemates about all the fics I've planned to write....Sweatdrops

* * *

There was something disturbing about witnessing one Mori Tatsunori holding a length of strong rope in his hands with a decidedly evil smirk curling his lips. Callused hands tugged the coil taught between two outstretched fists and it snapped with a sinister crack before slumping back into place. A low chuckle so similar and yet so very different to the doubles one player's usual laugh, echoed through the near empty locker room and Uchimura took one step closer to the door and away from his obviously deranged boyfriend. Perhaps with Mori so focused on the coil of rope in his hands, Uchimura could make a safe getaway through the door, across the courts and be well on his way home while the boy was none the wiser.  
  
Or perhaps blue eyes would fix on him just as he was halfway to his freedom and pin him in place with their wide, shimmering pleading. Sighing and mentally planning the torture, maiming and subsequent death of whoever taught Mori that particular look, Uchimura sidestepped back into the clubroom and prepared himself for the imminent suicide he could feel was coming. Nothing good could come of this. Nothing at all.  
  
"Why the rope, Tatsu?" Uchimura was almost too afraid to ask.  
  
"It's Buchou's birthday."  
  
Uchimura blinked. Okay, he knew his doubles partner better than anyone and while mind reading wasn't exactly something they practiced he could certainly follow Mori's sometimes-unique trains of thought. However, how exactly the length of rope and Tachibana's upcoming birthday had anything to do with one another the boy had no idea.  
  
"So?"  
  
Mori grinned, absently winding the rope around his hands and coiling it up his arms. "So, it's my turn to think of what to get him from the team."  
  
Uchimura still wasn't getting it.  
  
"So I thought about it and I decided I'd watch him to see if I could figure out exactly what it was that he wanted. Because…" Mori paused a little sadness creeping into his smile as he continued. "It's his last year here and I thought it would be good to give him something special."  
  
Uchimura smiled, tugging a little on his cap to hide the rather sappy look shining in his eyes as he pushed away from the doorway and walked over to his partner. Really, Mori was just too sweet to be real sometimes. He could just imagine the thought gone into planning for Tachibana's last present as team captain…at least until they all joined him in high school…and the effort Mori had obviously gone through to figure out what would be the most perfect gift from the team. Sidling up to the taller teen, Uchimura bumped his arm against his boyfriend's and smiled up from beneath his cap's brim.  
  
"You're too sweet, Tatsu."  
  
Mori's cheeks pinked rather predictably and Uchimura chuckled.  
  
"Shut up, you." Mori slipped his arms up and over Uchimura's head, hands still bound by the rope, to encircle the smaller boy's waist. Resting his head atop the gray cap, he smiled.  
Peering down at the arms around his waist, the rope quickly came into view and brought Uchimura's thought processes away from how sweet his boyfriend was to how obvious deranged his boyfriend was.  
  
"That still doesn't explain the rope."  
  
"Well I though about it and I watched Tachibana closely for awhile and finally it occurred to me what the perfect present would be."  
  
There was a smirk in Mori's voice that Uchimura new spelt trouble. He glared up into eyes sparkling with mischief.  
  
"Aww, Kyo, don't look at me like that. Trust me, I've done my research and I know that this present would certainly make Tachibana's birthday just that much brighter."  
  
"Explain the rope, Mori."  
  
Mori knew not to argue with that particular tone of voice and leant down to press his lips close to the shell of Uchimura's ear.  
  
"You see I've been watching him closely these past few weeks and I've noticed his eyes fixing on a particular present…or should I say presents that he must have had his eyes on for a while."  
  
Uchimura shivered as lips pressed against his ear with every word, breath ghosting over the sensitive skin. Mori was doing a far better job of making him consider his own uses for that piece of rope than trying to decipher whatever uses his boyfriend had concocted for Tachibana's birthday present. Trying to ignore the rather predictable rush of blood to places he wished blood was not rushing too, Uchimura pulled his head away from that tormenting breath to glare up into Mori's eyes.  
  
"Get to the point already. What has your obvious fetish for rope got to do with Tachibana's birthday?"  
  
Mori grinned wickedly, the smile doing odd things to Uchimura's stomach that he was much used to happening whenever Mori smiled his nice, normal…if not a little goofy…smile. This was rather quickly turning into a seduction rather than the planning of a birthday present.  
  
"Tatsu…"  
  
Laughing and heeding the warning, Mori leaned closer to whisper his plan directing into his annoyed boyfriend's ear. The choked splutter and the struggle for escape was well worth prolonging his explanation.  
  
"I am NOT helping you with this!" Uchimura protested. "When did you turn into such a pervert!"?  
  
Mori glared. "I'm not a pervert!"  
  
"Says the guy tied up in rope molesting his boyfriend while coming up with plans like that!"  
  
"Tell me you don't think Tachibana will like…no love his present?"  
  
"Okay…Tachibana will not…"  
  
Mori rolled his eyes and leant down the few inches it took to silence Uchimura's protesting mouth. The glare when they parted had Mori's lips curving in a sheepish grin and he went to pull away when he realized he was still tangled in the length of rope.  
  
"Er…"  
  
"Idiot." Uchimura sighed, not bothering to hide his affectionate smile as he went about untangling his boyfriend's hand. "And we're going to need Ishida and Sakurai for this you realize?"  
  
Mori grinned, rubbing his now free wrists and wrapping an arm around Uchimura's shoulders to draw him close.  
  
"Wouldn't be a team present without their help now would it?"  
  
"Why are we doing this again?"  
  
"Because it's Tachibana's birthday and some idiot left it up to Mori to figure out what we were going to get him."  
  
"It's was his turn!"  
  
"You do realize he's deranged, right?"  
  
"I think I realized when he handed me the rope and pointed me in the direction of the locker rooms. He's your boyfriend. Can't you talk him out of this?"  
  
Uchimura smirked, tugging his cap low. While the protests came frequently and eloquently he had the impression that his two partners in crime were rather enjoying the thought of carrying out their teammate's plan for gaining the perfect birthday present for their captain's birthday. Ishida was having a very difficult time in disguising the mirth from his voice and Sakurai could barely hide the permanent smirk that had crawled onto his face from the moment Mori had shared his idea for their gift.  
  
"Tried. Didn't work." Uchimura gave the pair a rather pointed look. "And I know you are enjoying this so don't try to tell me otherwise."  
  
Sakurai gave up trying to hide his smirk. "They're going to kill us you realize."  
  
"Maim us." Ishida nodded.  
  
"Don't remind me." Uchimura glanced around for the final member of this insane quartet for an equally insane operation. "Where the hell…" he didn't bother finishing his question as a figure dashed across the courts and squatted down beside the trio behind the bushes.  
  
"We all set?" Mori grinned.  
  
"As much as we'll ever be." Ishida nodded, checking to make sure he had two lengths of rope in his possession.  
  
"Good. Do you have the ribbon?"  
  
Sakurai held aloft a two long pieces of black satin ribbon with a definite evil glint to his smirk. "Ready and waiting."  
  
Mori rubbed his hands together. "Excellent.  
  
"I still can't believe I agreed to this."  
  
"Stop protesting so much, Kyo. Tachibana is going to love his present."  
  
Uchimura looked at the ground and rolled his eyes. He loved the spiky haired teen really he did but he must have been delusional when he agreed to this practice of insanity.  
  
"Tachibana is going to kill us."  
  
No one answered him as they were already half way to the locker room, rope and ribbon in hand, and leaving Uchimura to crouch like a fool alone in the bushes. Sighing and wondering when he became the only sane member of this team, the short teen followed after them.  
  
"Someone is watching us."  
  
Shinji glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Akira glancing about with a vaguely paranoid look. Tying a towel around his waist and stepping out from under the luke warm spray of the shower and turning it off, the blue haired teen glanced around the room to see if Akira was just imagining things or if they had a visitor in the room.  
  
"I can't see anyone looking at us. Why would anyone be looking in here anyway unless they were here to spy on us to find out the team's secrets and plan something to destroy us. But I didn't see any flashing glasses during practice and there is no one here now so there can't be anyone watching us."  
  
Akira glared, eyes still darting around the room as he towel dried his hair, another towel securely around his waist. "There is. I can feel eyes on me and its damn creepy."  
  
Shinji couldn't feel anything.  
  
"There's nobody here and who would be looking at you getting changed anyway except for me? And if there was…" Shinji's eyes grew colder and he glared at nothing in particular.  
  
"Hey! Hey!" Akira waved a hand in attempt to calm Shinji down from the beginnings of a possessive rant and crossed the floor to stand at Shinji's side. He was about to continue when he felt it again, eyes peering at him from somewhere. He shuddered and turned to point it out to Shinji when he saw his companion's eyes darting around room too.  
  
"You see. Told you. There's someone watching us."  
  
Shinji didn't get a chance to respond before he found himself on the floor with a heavy weight atop of him and something binding his hands behind his back. Akira's squawk of protest caught his attention and he turned in time to see Akira hit the floor with someone who looked suspiciously like Sakurai sitting on his back. And was that Mori gleefully tying Shinji's boyfriend's arms behind his back? Shinji didn't get to get a closer look as he was suddenly jerked to his feet and sat down on a chair.  
  
"Sorry bout this, Shinji." Ishida's voice reached his ear from behind where someone was going about tying his legs to the chair. "It's for Tachibana's birthday."  
  
"Why the hell are you tying us to chairs, you idiots!" Akira was struggling for all he was worth against Sakurai and yes it was Mori tying Akira's arms, only now he was working on getting the flailing redhead's legs tired to the chair. "Let me go you bastards! Some teammates you are…I'm going to kill you when I get loose, I swear it!"  
  
"What does tying us to chairs have to with Tachibana's birthday? Is it because we haven't got anything for him yet even though Mori said he was going to be in charge of finding the present this time? You're tying my arms a bit tight, Ishida so do you think you could loosen it so I don't have my arms drop off in the middle of the night when…"  
  
"Sorry Shinji!"  
  
"I said let me the hell out of here! I'm gonna beat you all to a pulp and don't think you can run away cause I'll hunt you down and you know I'm faster…!"  
  
"I told you Akira was going to be more difficult." Mori pointed out, narrowly missing a foot to the jaw. "Where's the ribbon?"  
  
"Here." Uchimura said rather sourly, though the beginnings of a smile was curling his lips at the rather bizarre sight of seeing his boyfriend and two teammates tying his other two teammates to chairs. The violent struggle Akira had put up was finally brought to an end as Mori managed to secure both his legs to the chair.  
  
"Ribbon?! What the hell are you going to do with ribbon?! And damn you guys, I'm practically naked here!"  
  
"There would be ribbon if it was for Tachibana's birthday because there's always ribbon for birthday presents though I'm not exactly sure what it has to do with the reason we are tired to…"  
  
Uchimura began to wish they had brought gags with them. Tossing the ribbon over to Mori who proceeded to wrap it around Akira's torso and tie it in a huge, gaudy bow, Uchimura leant against the doorframe and stayed as far away from them as possible, content to let the chaos unfold before him.  
  
"If this rope cuts off my circulation…"  
  
"Oh shut up, we haven't tied it that tight." Sakurai laughed, grabbing the other length of ribbon as tossing over to Ishida who copied Mori and tied it around Shinji's chest and into a bow.  
  
"I SHOULDN'T BE TIRED TO A CHAIR AT ALL!" Akira bellowed, straining against his bonds. "Shinji will you stop muttering and work out how to get out of these things?!"  
  
"How can I help you when I'm tired to this chair as well?" Shinji pointed out rather needlessly. "Plus I think it's something to do with Tachibana's birthday and we can't disappoint him on his birthday can we because that…"  
  
Akira let out a howl of frustration just as Mori, Sakurai and Ishida joined Uchimura at the doorway to admire their handiwork. With a satisfied nod, Mori strolled up to the pair and grinned.  
  
"You won't be here long. Just until Tachibana comes to make sure everything is locked up for the night. Have fun!"  
  
The four doubles players strolled out of the room leaving Akira hurling verbal insults at their backs and Shinji still muttering to himself. Pausing to close the door and attach a card to it, Mori turned to face his partners in this wonderfully thought out gift.  
  
"Anyone got the camera?"  
  
Tachibana Kippei raised an eyebrow as he reached the door to the locker room. Attached to the surface was an envelope with his name on it. Generally this wouldn't have fazed him if it weren't for the muffled sounds of angry voices, mumbling and the scratching of chair legs against the floor. Pausing to take the envelope from the door he opened it to find a cheerful birthday card tucked inside. Smiling at the thought of his teammates remembering his birthday he opened it to read the message written…Uchimura's scrawl greeting his eyes.  
  
_I swear it was all Mori's idea so if you want to kill someone kill him. _  
  
Tachibana read, eyebrows rising as he glanced back to the door before returning to his card. Noticing the message now contained different handwriting, Mori's this time, he read on with no small amount of curiosity and a slight sense of foreboding at Uchimura's earlier words.  
  
_Don't listen to Kyo, he's paranoid. I thought long and hard for the perfect gift for you and eventually this came to mind. Hope you enjoy your presents, Tachibana! We worked hard to get them ready for you! _  
  
That sense of foreboding grew stronger and tucking the card back into the envelope, Tachibana opened the door with curiosity warring with the desire to turn and walk away very quickly.  
  
What greeted his eyes however was the furthest thing from his mind.  
  
Sitting tired to a chair clad only in a small towel around his hips, which was riding dangerously low, Akira glared balefully at a similarly tied Shinji who was mumbling softly to himself. Upon hearing the door open, Akira's blue eyes snapped around to meet the intruded with murder shining clearly in their depths.  
  
"I swear if you guys don't untie us I'll…Tachibana!" Akira voice trailed off in a rather alarmed squeak. "Er…what are you…I mean this isn't what it…."  
  
"…it was for your birthday at least that's Mori, Uchimura, Ishida and Sakurai said while they were tying up Akira and there's ribbon so it must be for a present though I still don't get what this present is for…"  
  
"Gah, Shinji! What do you think it's for?! Who are the ones tied to chairs with ribbons all over them…" Akira's eyes widened as the implications of his yelling finally processed in his brain. He cast a nervous glance over at Shinji whose eyes had widened ever so slightly and then reluctantly over at their captain who was watched them with undisguised…Akira shivered. He hadn't seen that particular look in anyone but Shinji's eyes and certainly not in his captain's.  
  
"This means we're…"  
  
"Yeah…" Akira gulped.  
  
Tachibana allowed a smirk to appear on his lips as he stalked towards his lovely and very nicely wrapped presents. Stopping just in front of the pair he allowed his eyes to travel firstly over Akira's bound, near-naked form and then over Shinji's. Lifting his hands to go about unwrapping his presents, Tachibana smiled in pure satisfaction while the two bound tennis players shared a decidedly nervous glance.  
  
"Remind me to thank the others later." He said, ribbon slipping between two fingers.  
  
So engrossed with removing the ribbon from around Shinji and Akira's torsos, The Fudomine tennis team's captain and his two singles players were unaware of the camera flash from outside the room, nor the four low chuckles just outside the doorway. Closing the door and turning around, Mori flashed his teammates a wink and waved the camera.  
  
"Oh don't worry, Buchou. We have all the thanks we need right here." 


End file.
